Event News & Updates

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta Presented by Canon Generates $177.44 million into Albuquerque Economy

2015 Economic Impact Study Shows Benefits to New Mexico Visitor Industry as well as State and Local Tax Base

ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO- New Mexico’s largest visitor event, the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, today announced results of a third-party economic impact study.

The 2015 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta attracted an estimated 955,700 guest visits during the nine-day event. It is estimated 74 percent of visitors to Balloon Fiesta are from outside of the Albuquerque Metro area, and approximately 65 percent are from outside of New Mexico. Balloon Fiesta guests generated an estimated $177.44 of total economic impact for businesses in the Albuquerque metropolitan area, $105.31 million of that amount being direct economic impact. The company Forward Analytics was commissioned by the Balloon Fiesta to conduct the 2015 economic impact survey.

Below are the key highlights from the Economic Impact and Guest Research Study (Visit the Balloon Fiesta website to access the entire survey report):

Total economic impact of the 2015 Balloon Fiesta on the Metro-Albuquerque area totaled $177.44 million, comprising $105.31 million in direct impact and a further $72.13 million in indirect impact.

Direct spending by the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, Inc., the private not for profit corporation that runs the event, contributed an estimated $2.27 million in direct impact to the State of New Mexico (of that number, $2.01 million was contracted to businesses in the City of Albuquerque). The direct spending includes the purchase of goods and professional services from dozens of local businesses with money from the organization’s operating budget.

The total economic impact is largely comprised of spending by out-of-area Balloon Fiesta guests which generated $103.04 million in business revenues.

Tax revenues generated by the 2015 Balloon Fiesta are estimated to be $5.79 million for the State of New Mexico; $837,200 for Bernalillo County, and $4.14 million for the City of Albuquerque.

Balloon Fiesta guests (non-local) spent $2.23 million with Balloon Fiesta concessionaires, many of which are regional businesses. Guests spent an average of $29 per person on Balloon Fiesta grounds (excluding parking and admission).

Forty-three percent of guests attend three or more sessions at Balloon Fiesta and one-third of guests have attended Balloon Fiesta for four or more years.

The survey was conducted by Forward Analytics, Inc. to measure the economic impact of the nine-day ballooning event. Forward Analytics administered in-person interviews to 989 adult attendees (ages 18+) during 12 of the 14 events of Balloon Fiesta. The sample size represents a statistical significance of +/-3.1% margin at the 95% confidence interval. This means the results reflect the answers between 91.9% and 98.1% of the total population. Generally, a +/-5% margin of error at a 95% confidence level is considered significant for making business decisions.